Sole



A. F, LITTLEHELD. SOLE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.4, 1919.

'1,417,535'. L men/wa May30,1922.

- FIELD, a citizen of the United States, resid-I ing at Lynn, inthe county ofEsseX and State of Massachusetts, have invented cer' John B. Hadaway, No.,1,0 87,572, datedv 'y UNITED STATES AUGUsTINR FRANK LITTLETIRLD, or LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS; lAssierNo-R To UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, or rATRRsoN, NRW @Renan coRPoRATIoN or NRW JERSEY. i i

SOLE.

i Appiicatiqn' mea' August 4, i919.;` serial? Nq.' cisnes.

To all wwm t may concern:

Be it known that l, A UGUSTINE FQLITTLE- tain new and useful Improvements in Soles; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full,clear, and eXact vdescriptionY ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. q i' f This invention relates to the manufacture of soles for boots and shoes'. and more particularly to an improvedy sole of the peaked orpointedtoe ytype and the method of making it. y i v The prevailing style of 'last provided with a pointed toerequires a specialfitting for the sole, either an insoleor turn sole, to permit the channellap to be raised preparatory to an application of reinforcing material Within the upturned flap. In insoles for welt shoes the lip isalso specially prepared.` This fitting comprises a slit through the,y channel Hap, or both Hap and lip, which may be made by 'ai machine such as shownl in Letters Patent of the United States to February 17, 1914. When the flap is upturned to a position permittingja ready application o f lthe reinforcingmaterial the abutting ends of the flap adjacent the slitV will .spread apart leaving an vopen space at.,`

inforcing solesl employs Istrips .of 'reinforce the extreme tip of the sewing rib at the toe. This space is covered by-thelreinforcing material applied inside the flap, but` since here-v tofore it has been the general Apractice to api ply but a single layer ofreinforce there has been aj weakness in the inseam atl thisy par-.

tioular point.

i, The object ofthe present inventioniis to` provide a reinforced sole, fitted for a'y pointed toe last, that willihave sufficient strength throughout the sewing-rib'` to vhold the inseam stitches securely.' d .v I

lncarrying out this object lit is proposed tojso vprepare and manipulate thereinforcing material asvto provide aidouble layer at the toe across the openspacein the sewing-` rib formed by the flap slitting operation. While ithas been proposedheretofore'to reinforce the toe end of an insole by means of two separate layers` of reinforcing material, ay feature of the present invention comprises the preparation and application ofagsingle- Specification ofLetterslIatnt. 192:2 i

the ybody lof., the sole isy provided with one layer as usual, fthe toe-*end is. provided l the desired double layeipg. Y. u f To the accomplishment .ofthis object the invention fgcomprises al .ss'ole,l having the characteristics hereinafter- 'deiiriedj ,inA detail andthe .method.of`makingitfthe particular" j 'v steps employedlbeing set forth'in their pre-s n ferred sequence the *l following description. The? preferredhform oftheinventi'on, as

embodied in lan insole for weltslioes,is illus!v trated in ythey accoinpanyii'igv drawings in@ which- Figure 1 is a, plan View of oneeiid-of.l strip of'reinforcing material such as canvas or duck,` the dotted lines lindicatingy the manner-in ,which it is cut in .preparinga length t for application `to a sole; Fig. 2 shows the rough or :preliminary application of the're inforce'to the inner side of ythe sewing-rib and iface of an Economy insole; Fig. 3 shows the toeend lof an- Economy insolewith .the p p A reinforce` completely` applied -thereto l; Fig. 4 is across-section on the .line .4',-4of Fig. v2

80, showing the single( reinforcement on the i body portion of the'insole, which is the saine -v as heretofore; andv Fig.l 5 isa cross-.section on line 5 5 0f Fiere .Showing the double reinforcement et the, toe. n will beenden stood. thatthe Economytype insole is used y merely for purposes of illustration; i `The ypreferred commercial rmethod of. re-

ing material ofindefinite: length fromzwhich lengths are successively. cut'ffor application to individual. soles. j After preliminariy forming the reinforce intofftlie angle inside the. sewing-rib' the-.application l,thereof l isJ vcompleted', by' a machine process, and usually the reinforce is. simultaneouslyv ,trimmed either tothe top' of the sewingrib or on the feather according .to'thetypelof sole being manufactured'.vr This :general process;,isf-fol 'tothe operation of the cut 4.' The out 4L is preferably made material but in following the present methodtwobseveringl knives are used,one of which makes a` central vlongitudinal- `slit 6 prior the other which makes across the slit 6 to effect a clean severance,

see-Fig.` 1... ThisI manner ofproducingvthey sheet 2 for application to a sole provides a central slit, preferably'about two inches'in length extending through the'e'dge at one end of the sheet, ,The slit `6 produces two separateI ends 10 and 12, as indicated yin Fig. 1.5 Transverseside slitsg8`are lfound desirableto permit the reinforce to be fitted without wrinkling -into thel "convexly curved sewing-'rib at the shank. i' These .slitsmay be made'` at any` convenientL time.

VVhen't-he reinforcind stri .or'sheet V2 s P v. .,appliedtothe ribbed face ofthe body 'blank it` is preliminarily formed inside the 'rib 16 throughout the shank and major portion of the forepart, as shown in Fig. 4. At the toe, however, l

overlapped,` see Fig. l2first the end 12 being the I'two ends 10 and 12 are pulled over sideways and formed in and the end 10 then beinglai d upon it, thusvproviding a smooth double thickness ofthe reinforce at this r'portion` ofthe sole.

. operations used in finally applying and trimming'lthel reinforce, the sole, if o-f the Economy type, appears as lshown in Fig.` 3. While not essential, it is deemed desirable to secure the ,overlapped ends 10 and' 12 to `the vbody blank byv an4 inserted fastening device, preferably by `a dry-thread vstitched seam 18. y This willeifectually prevent any disturbance of the overlapped 'relation should the cement, withwhich the reinforce is fjoated, fail to hold. l 40" vInsome shoe factoriesthe reinforcing material is dinked into sole shaped pieces of the required size, instead" of using strips from which pieces of the desired length are .severed as hereinbefore described. In such factories only the slitting knife for producing a central slit through the toe edge of thefdinked pieces need be employed; or thedies for 'dinking the pieces may be so formed to' slitthe reinforce in the'required manner duringthedinking operation. 'Suche d inked pieceof reinforce is indicated by the dot and dash lines on the strip2 in Fig. 1.

The advantage accruing'fromvthe double reinforce at the toe will be apparent-tothose skilled inthe art and a'special feature'only need be pointed out. The'illustration shows asole for a right shoe and it will be ob-y served'r that the end l10 isl lapped upon the end ,12 so that the inner edge of the end 12y lies beneath, andl is therefore covered by, the reinforce.' seamingoperatlonstarts atr the outside of afright sole, this mode ofl overlapping thel ends lO'and 12 provides for a substantially smootlrsurface inside the'sewing-rib (see After the machine` Remembering that the in- Fig. 5) as it approaches the toe. After theshoe has been swung atthe toe the channel Aguide readily rides olf of the `shoulder formed by the inner edge of the end 10. When reinfor the channel guide to ride upon t forcing a sole for a left shoe` by this method the same mode of overlapping ofthe end 1G upon the end 12 is employed'because in inseaming a left shoeV the channel guide is initially positioned at the end of the sewingrib on the inside of the sole. In bothcases, therefore, the overlapping operation takes place from left to right when viewing the sole from the heel toward the toe as illus-4 tratedin Fig. 5. If the-overlapping were in the opposite'direction the inner edge ofthe end 12 would form. a shoulder in the path of the channel guide which would be liable tointerfere vwith the operation ofthe inseaming machine. y y

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention described `includes within its scope yan improved sheetof-reinforce and the method of making it as well as 'the improved vsole and method of making it, 'theyA new type lof reinforcing sheet being an essential feature of the sole.

Having thus described of the present inventionl andv the preferred method by which they may be practiced, what is claimed as new,vis

Al. A reinforced sole comprising "a body blank and a. sheet'of reinforcing material having two portions at opposite sides of its longitudinal median llinefat the toe overlapped for a short distance only rearward from the tip of the'toe to provide a double thickness of reinforce at the toe end ofthe sole. f

2. A reinforced sole comprising ya bodyl blank and a sheet of reinforcing material having one end portion slit longitudinally and the two ends thus produced overlapped to forni a double thickness of reinforce at the toefend of the sole. l

3. `A reinforced sole comprising a body blank and la sheet of .reinforcing material having one endportion slit longitudinally and the two endsfthus produced overlapped to form a double thickness of reinforce at the toe end of the sole, said overlapped ends being secured by stitching in overlapped position on the body blank.

the novel features blank with the slit at the toe end, and lapping the two edges of the-'slit before the final application to provide a'double thic ness of reinforce at the toe. l

6. The method of vmaking reinforced soles which includes the steps of preparing a sheet of reinforcing material with a longitudinal slit extending through the edge at one end, overlapping the two ends thus produced to provide a double thickness and applying said sheet to a body blank with the double thickness at the toe end7 and securing the overlapped ends in positionby a fastening inserted through the sheet and body blank.

7. The method of preparing a sheet of re-` inforcing material for soles which'includes the steps of simultaneously severing a length'A of reinfo-rce from a strip of material of indefinite length and cutting a longitudinal slit through the end of said length adj acent the line of severance, and then over-la ping the two ends produced by the longitu mal slit,-

`to provide a double thickness of reinforce at one end of the sheet. f

8. A reinforced sole having a single layer 25 f of reinforce throughout the shank and vInajor portion of the forepart and a double layer at the toe consisting of `laterally overl l sheet of reinforcing material.

9. A sheet of reinforce `for soles having a longitudinal slit at its toe endand transverse I slits at its sides all o-f which extend through' f lthev edge of the sheet and provide for Inanipulation of the material to ensure a smooth when the sheet is apf application to the rib plied to a sole.

'10. A sheet of reinforce for 'soles .havingk acentral'y longitudinal slit extending inwardv from one end edge of such length as to perp thus produced to be over'- mit the two ends lapped.

Aucus'rm FRANK LITTLEFIELD. 

